Fighting For My Undead Soul

Chapter 11

Artemis' POV

I cried after I killed Lola, for a while. I still had no indication of the amount of time that was passing, but tears were still falling down my cheeks when they came and took her body. I tried to fight back, I wanted to get her back to her family. But there were too many of them and even with her blood coursing through my veins, I was still too weak. I spent the next several minutes screaming at the door. Daring Valerie to come back inside and face me. When I had the chance, I would annihilate her.

It didn't seem like as much time had passed when the door opened again. This time, the same men as before entered the room unaccompanied by Valerie. Instead, they had another young woman in their arms with brown hair and green eyes. She whimpered as she was sat on the ground. The men left the room without saying a word. I stared at her body curled in the fetal position on the floor. I didn't need to see the blood to know it was there, the smell was overpowering. She sobbed lightly and I fell to my knees behind her. "Please don't hurt me," she whispered, not bothering to turn her head in my direction. I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached my hand out, running it through her wavy locks. She flinched at the touch. I stopped the motion, letting my hand rest at the base of her neck. Her heart was beating rapidly as I leaned down, stopping when my lips were inches above her ear. "Don't be afraid," I whispered, "no one is going to hurt you anymore. You're safe." My other hand had curled under the other side of her head as I spoke and in the blink of an eye, I snapped her neck.

Without her heartbeat thundering off the walls, the room was rather silent. Almost peaceful. I bent over her body, pushing the hair off her neck and began to drink. Like always, the feeling and taste were euphoric. A small part of me recoiled at my actions, trying to fight against my nature. I pushed it down. There had been no other choice, Lola was proof. Either this girl died now, or she died later, but either way it would be by my hand. Besides, I had already killed an innocent person once. Did it change anything if I did it again? Would not killing again magically make me whole? Who I had been and the life I had lived were now over. I couldn't go back to Lena and bare my soul to her the way it is now, damaged and darkened. This was my life now. Time to start living it.

I sat next to the dead girl when there was no blood left to drink. My head was clouded and foggy. A small smile rested on my face as I basked in the feeling. For the first time since I had been taken, I felt free. Unburdened. Valerie's men came to remove the body and I didn't so much as twitch. One of the men made eye contact with me and left looking a little unnerved at the smile still plastered on my face. I giggled, which quickly turned into full on belly laughs. I fell onto the floor, clutching my stomach as tears fell from my eyes. God, I had missed feeling happy.

A noise from somewhere else in the room cut my laughter short. I sat up quickly, searching for the source. I found her sitting in the corner, tapping her foot on the floor with her arms crossed around her chest. I sobered up immediately as I spoke, "Nik?" She glared at me for a moment longer before responding, "What are you doing, Art?" I shook my head, shrugging my shoulders. "You don't know? Really?" She was upset. "I'm just trying to survive," I whispered back. "No, you're not surviving. You're coasting. It's disgusting." My stomach dropped at her words. A low chuckle from the corner opposite her made me jump. I turned my attention in that direction and a strangled cry left my throat at the sight of Logan. "Don't listen to her sis, she's never tasted human blood from the perspective of someone in our condition." "I haven't, but that doesn't mean I've never had the dilemma of choosing between right and wrong. And take it from me Art, you don't want to die knowing you made the wrong choice," Nikki pleaded with me.

Logan pushed away from his spot on the wall and walked up to me. "You know me better than anyone, Artemis. You know I wouldn't stand behind doing the wrong thing. The right thing to do now, is to take care of yourself. Protect yourself, in any way you have to." I was torn, as I looked between the two of them. I didn't have time to continue the conversation. The door behind me opened and they were gone in a flash. I glanced over my shoulder, watching as another brunette was guided into the room. I didn't bother looking into her eyes, knowing they would be the same haunting color as the others. I waited for the men to leave and for the door shut behind us to move closer to her. She wasn't bleeding, there was no undeniable force pulling me to her. But I pondered Logan's words as I moved closer and closer. No matter when or how I came to the decision to drink from her, it would happen. I needed to protect myself the best way I could. And right now, that meant losing control. Becoming the monster they want me to be. I closed the distance between us, cutting her scream short as I ripped my teeth into her neck. I didn't kill her instantly. I let her squirm and cry and try to break free as I sucked all the blood from her body. And when they came to take her away and brought another, I did it again, and again. Until I didn't know how many girls there had been. Until I didn't feel anything, not even happiness from the high. I did it until I knew there was nothing left of myself. Until Artemis Monticello was as dead as the women she had murdered.